1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a napkin for receiving excretions such as menstrual blood, urine or feces discharged from a human body, and more particularly to a compact water-absorbing napkin which can be utilized by females to receive menstrual blood, or which can be utilized to receive feces or urine discharged from babies, infants, or sick or wounded persons unable to walk by themselves. The napkin can be used to receive feces or it urine in case of urgency, or can be used daily to receive feces or urine of old persons having impaired excretory control functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Commercially available prior art water-absorbing napkins for receiving menstrual blood, feces or urine typically have a flat, elongate form, as shown in FIG. 23. The part of the napkin which is to be brought into contact with the excretory organs extends coextensively along the wide surface of the napkin.
Thus, in a sanitary napkin, for example, the even, wide napkin surface flatly contacts the excretory organs and the surrounding body area without providing any gap or recess to absorb menstrual blood. However, the blood tends to flow under capillary action between the even, flat surface of the napkin and the excretory organs to leak laterally therebetween. This defect results from the contact of the excretory organs with the napkin along the same plane as the wide napkin surface. When a relatively large amount of menstrual blood must be absorbed or when a female wearing a sanitary napkin moves to cause the napkin to be slipped off, the problem of blood leakage becomes particularly serious. In such a case, the user feels uncomfortable and the surrounding lingerie may be stained by blood.
Napkins can also be used by females for absorbing urine. However, in this case since only a limited spot-like area of a prior art napkin is brought into contact with the excretory organs, the absorptivity of this area is necessarily lower than that required to absorb all the urine discharged. As a result, the urine overflows the absorbing area, so that one may feel uneasy having wet excretory organs and a wet surrounding body area, even if part of the urine has been absorbed.
In a typical prior art napkin for receiving feces, there is typically no gap provided between the excretory organs and the area around them and the napkin, thereby causing feces to readily extend over and cling to the excretory organs. It is troublesome to subsequently cleanse such condition.